And it was the preparation of the passover, and
about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they
cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them,
Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but
Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they
took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place
called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they
crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the
midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was,
JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews:
for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was
written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the
Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of
the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. John 19:14-22
KJV
Crucifixion!
Defined by the historian Josephus as the most wretched of deaths, crucifixion
was cruel, horrible, barbaric, demeaning and looked on with horror! There was
nothing noble about being crucified! There was nothing beautiful about the
cross! It was a fiendish device invented by an equally fiendish ingenuity to
produce the most excruciating torture and the most exquisite pain in the body
and mind of the unfortunate wretch that incurred its wrath!
The
world now seeks to glamorize the cross by making it into beautiful pieces of
jewelry robbing it completely of its once gruesome reputation. The modern
church also seeks to do away with the ugliness of the cross in order not to
offend “sensitive” souls and the “finer” sensibilities. There have been so many
attempts to exchange all that is gory for just the glory, the horrible for the
honorable and the crucifixion for the coronation that in many “Christian”
circles the preaching of the cross is literally foolishness.
The
words of Christ however, continues to declare very clearly: Then
said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Matthew 16:24 KJV And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after
me, cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:27
KJV
To
many in the modern Christian community the offence of the cross has ceased!
However the truth of the gospel remains …that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures: 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 KJV
To
the believer there is something precious about the cross despite it gory, gruesome
nature! More accurately the Presence of the Sinless One, the Holy One of God, the
Son of God, crucified, dying, bleeding, suffering on the cross has forever redefined
this symbolic instrument.
THE CROSS A
SYMBOL OF PUNISHMENT BECAME A SYMBOL OF PARDON
And you, being dead in your sins and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having
forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that
was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing
it to his cross; Colossians 2:13-14 KJV
Every
transgression from Adam to Adam’s last son has been nailed to the cross and we
can only claim this privilege when we come to the cross! There is no bypassing
the cross to pardon from God! There is no shortcut to be free from
transgressions. We must kneel at the cross for Christ will meet us there where
His Blood is a cleansing healing stream! And sinners plunged beneath that Blood
lose ALL their guilty stains!
THE CROSS A
SYMBOL OF TORTURE BECAME A SYMBOL OF RELEASE!
And, having made peace through the blood of his
cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they
be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Colossians 1:20 KJV
Whatever
our pain, whatever our problem, whatever we are prisoners to; at the cross we
find release, we find freedom, we enjoy liberty; for at the cross we die, and
when we die we are no more subjected to a world of pain, sorrow, sickness and
suffering! We’re free and if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye
shall be free indeed. John 8:36 KJV
THE CROSS A
SYMBOL OF CRIMINALS BECAME A SYMBOL OF THE CHRIST
Indisputably
the crucifixion of Christ on the cross forever changed the way we look at the
cross. As criminals running from the consequences of our sins we come face to
face with our Christ on the cross taking our place. Instead of us hanging there
He takes our place and like the apostle Paul we say But God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Galatians 6:14 KJV
It’s
His Cross and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to
reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in
earth, or things in heaven. Colossians
1:20 KJV
In
the Cross of Christ there is a change of death to life, hate to love, separation
to reconciliation, loss to salvation, despair to hope.
Therefore God
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Galatians 6:14 KJV
In
the beautiful words of John Mark Mcmillan:
We are His
portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to
redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an
ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets
earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart
turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have
time to maintain these regrets,
When I think
about, the way…
that He loves
us,
Oh how He loves
us,
How He loves us
so
For the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18 KJV
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